Plastering NVQ Courses
All you need to know about Plastering NVQ’s, Plastering CSCS Cards and how to get them.
Qualification Titles:
NOCN_Cskills Awards Level 2 NVQ Diploma In Plastering (Construction)
NOCN_Cskills Awards Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Plastering (Construction)
If you need Plastering NVQ courses at Level 2 or Level 3, there are a number of routes you can take, depending on your experience. Plastering NVQ’s obtained on these courses will get you the Blue Plastering CSCS Card. You can count on SuperSkills to give you Free, Impartial advice at all times. Don’t forget, you are welcome to call us on 01845 527 445 to find out more at any time!
A most important point to start with – NVQ’s (the letters stand for National Vocational Qualification) involve your work being assessed in the workplace. You cannot get your NVQ by just attending a training programme and you cannot just start getting assessed in a workplace until you have built up some experience. See why knowing that is important.
What are National Vocational Qualifications?
National Vocational Qualifications mean the individual has met the National Occupational Standards for whichever job is involved. To get the plasterer’s CSCS Card, you must have the relevant NVQ.
These standards are set by Sector Skills Councils, bodies set up by Government. This oversees the workforce skills across the country. You may have heard politicians talking about “Building the skills of the workforce” – what they mean is that employers are being encouraged to get their people qualified. The Sector Skills Council for the Construction Sector is the Construction Industry Training Board – which everyone knows as “CITB“
NVQ’s are set at different levels. Level One is Foundation Level – this is where somebody would be if they had attended a basic City & Guilds or Construction Skills course. They usually take ten to twenty days of training. Level Two is a “Skilled Trades” level. This is the qualification the vast majority of site workers have and the one that gets the Plasterer’s CSCS “Skilled Worker” Blue Card. Level Three is a Supervisory level – somebody who has the skills to lead a team of trades on site and is able to undertake or oversee more complex work. They have a Gold “Supervisor” CSCS Card. Level Four and above are management level qualifications and holders of these have access to the CSCS Black Card. Learn more about the CSCS Card Scheme.
Plastering NVQ Level 2 by On Site Assessment
There was a time when getting a Plastering NVQ by on site assessment was a lengthy process. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a rethink by the awarding bodies. Now we do your Plastering NVQ assessment far more conveniently – by gathering evidence remotely where possible.
Using this method has reduced our costs – and we have passed the savings on to our customers.
This route is open to people who have three or more years of general site experience. It involves our Assessor finding out your skills in the workplace and seeing what level you are working at.
We enrol you on an Online Learning programme for the ‘core’ Units of the Plastering NVQ –
- General Health Safety & Welfare
- Productive Working Practices
- Management of Resources
Working with your dedicated Assessor
You gather evidence of your skills as a plasterer under the guidance of an assessor for both the mandatory and optional Units of the NVQ. You will be shown how to do this and we support you all the way.
The Assessor has to judge your work and skills against the National Occupational Standards for Plasterers. An initial conversation establishes the “gap” (if any) between your skills and those required for the Plastering NVQ Level 2. An Individual Learning Plan is agreed with you.
All the time you will be building a file of evidence with photographs and references you get from other trades. The Assessor will support you and undertake assessments of your work. Once the evidence is there to show you are operating at the standard of a Skilled Worker, the assessments finish. Then you will be awarded your NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Trowel Occupations (Plastering).
The fully remote service is only £775 including VAT – and that’s all you pay with SuperSkills – no extra charges for ‘immediate registration’ or ‘fast track completion’. You will know before you start exactly what you are getting for your money and how the payments will be made. See all the details here.
What if I don’t have the experience for the fully remote service?
We may arrange for the assessor to support you more with a site visit just to help you along the way, or provide a full range of training in particular plastering skills if you have only been working for a short time. That’s why the price of your Plastering assessment may range from £775 to £1325 (again including VAT) depending on the amount of assessor time involved.
Rest assured, we will charge you the lowest price possible to get your Plastering NVQ & CSCS Card and you will know what you will be paying before you decide to choose SuperSkills!
What happened to the ‘Experienced Worker Practical Assessment’?
One word – “Covid” – which not only limited people’s ability to travel (and their willingness to do so) but also put up both the accommodation costs and price of materials – and we didn’t want to pass that onto our customers.
At the same time the Awarding Bodies decided that evidence could be gathered by the candidate in their workplace and that, plus easy use of telephone and video calling, meant we could offer assessments cheaper in most cases for our customers.
Getting your Plastering NVQ Level 3
The Level 3 NVQ Diploma is a much bigger qualification than the Level 2. If you equate the qualification with GCSE’s the Level 2 is the “O” Level and Level 3 is at “A” Level. It can be acquired through taking a third year of Apprenticeship. However, the majority of our clients are very experienced trades and achieve the qualification by On Site Assessment and Training.
Level 3 qualifications take longer than Level 2 – so they are more expensive. It may sound a little strange, but our staff will always check with you just why you want to be assessed for Level 3. It’s not because we don’t want to do the work, far from it. It’s because we find that quite often the client only needs to have Level 2 for the CSCS Card they require. At SuperSkills, we simply do not believe in selling you something you don’t need. You can see details of the Plastering NVQ Level 2 here.
You don’t need your Level 2 to be able to get assessed for Level 3. Yes – another myth busted. You can be what is called a “Level 3 Jumper” – a candidate who has all the skills and capabilities and who is working at Level 3 standard. You can see the details of the Plastering NVQ Level 3 here.
And finally, for completeness, something no longer offered at SuperSkills – by taking an Apprenticeship, where an employer releases you for training, you get the Diploma (and qualifications in Literacy and Numeracy if you don’t have them) at a training school. Then you are visited in your workplace as the course progresses by your Assessor.
By the time the Apprenticeship concludes, you have all the theory and the practical skills and you have been assessed as being able to put them into practice at work.
Since changes to the way in which Government funds Apprenticeships, SuperSkills no longer offers this route to qualification. The best place to look for a Plastering Apprenticeship is via the National Apprenticeship Service.
At SuperSkills we know the vast majority of our customers are looking for qualifications that can be obtained simply, quickly and conveniently. That’s why we are always on the end of the telephone if you want to talk about the best qualification route for you. Call 01845 527 445 to find out more.